A few more migrant moths from our Grove garden traps today incl a Purple Marbled; a Four Spotted was also only the third ever for this site. Weirdest catch was an orangey-coloured Xestia - struggling to see beyond it being an oddly-marked and v early Dotted Clay (v rare here) but comments welcome

1st June: 5 Bee-eaters doing a lap of the island from the Bill to the Verne and back again provided the day's highlight; the Turtle Dove remained at the Obs, with a single Chiffchaff the only other new arrival at the Bill; trickle of Manx offshore + 45 Com Scoter, a Balearic & an Arctic Skua

Obs moth-traps still quite busy last night despite the dip in temperature; 2 more Eastern Bordered Straw the best, with singles of Little Thorn (Portland's 4th ever and our 3rd in the last week) and Treble Brown-spot (fewer than 10 island records) good locally

The Bee-eaters now gone south high over the Higher Light - currently lost to view

...Bee-eaters now just gone south over Tout Quarry per Charlie Richards

5 Bee-eaters just now south over the Verne per Tom Coldwell

Bee-eater high over the Bill

Last night's migrant moth highlights at the Obs included 2 Silver-spotted Veneer and singles of Eastern Bordered Straw, Ni Moth, Vestal, Bordered Straw, Small Marbled, Purple Marbled, Gem and Little Thorn, with 385 Diamond-backs and 167 Small Mottled Willows amongst the routines totals

31st May: birds played second fiddle to moths today, with very full moth-traps to inspect and a succession of fridge twitchers coming to inspect the rewards of recent nights to entertain; the Turtle Dove remained at the Obs, with c1000 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Balearics & a Greenshank passing on the sea

30th May: quiet save for the lingering Turtle Dove at the Obs & a brief Tree Sparrow - yesterday's bird? - also at the Bill; singles of Chiffchaff & Spot Fly the only new passerine arrivals there; 300 Manx Shearwaters still offshore + singles of GNDiver, Balearic & Arctic Skua thru on the sea

Red-veined Darter numbers at Yeolands Quarry much improved since last weekend - must have been a good 20 if not more scattered about the slopes beside the pool this afternoon although none seen in tandem or egg-laying

...a Portland first and think it's about the 12th for Britain. Also there for Alan an Eastern Bordered Straw and a Striped Hawk.

Permission to steal @alanlewiswildlife.bsky.social's thunder as he's currently indisposed birding elsewhere: fantastic reward for him after sticking to his usual trapping spot at Freshwater Bay, Southwell, in what looked to be unpromisingly cooler, breezy conditions with a Mediterranean Brocade...

The island's Eastern Bordered Straw tally advances to 9 in the last two nights with 2 more from last night in our garden at the Grove; also another Striped Hawk from there.

Still plenty of migrant moths last night but the overall catch at the Obs was noticeably reduced; Eastern Bordered Straw, 3 Striped Hawks & Small Marbled the best there along with 102 Small Mottled Willow & 170 Diamond-backs. Exciting up-island news from @alanlewiswildlife.bsky.social to follow...

29th May: beyond today's two scarces - the Melodious Warbler & Tree Sparrow (the Turtle Dove was also still about at the Obs) - there was still a little migration evident, with 3 each of Reed Warbler & Chiffchaff + a single Spot Fly new at the Bill; 550 Manx, a GNDiver & an Arctic Skua thru at sea

More migrant moths for last night's tally: singles of Eastern Bordered Straw from John Lucas' garden at Southwell and from our garden at the Grove + a Striped Hawk at the Grove; among the commoner migrant totals there were 53 Small Mottled Willows at the Grove

Final Obs garden migrant moth totals for last night: 237 Diamond-back, 230 Small Mottled Willow, 19 Rusty-dot Pearl, 6 SY, 4 Striped Hawk, 3 Eastern Bordered Straw, 2 Rush Veneer, singles Vestal, Bordered Straw, Dark Sword Grass & Purple Marbled + the Pale Oak Beauty and several other misc strays.

Never really understood why this is a good time of year for Tree Sparrows because you'd have thought they'd all be off breeding far away from here (this one had a big brood patch so has tried to breed somewhere) but May's always been good for them and here's another just now from the CEF mist-nets

...and then inside that trap another EBS, a Purple Marbled & a Striped Hawk. How times have changed - can still well remember Bernard Skinner massively gripping us off in May 1992 by showing us Britain's 4th EBS (& the first for 30+ yrs) that he'd caught the night before at Durlston!

So totally expected after yesterday's events further west that we weren't even surprised to find an Eastern Bordered Straw on top of another moth-trap at the Obs - how come the sparrows hadn't eaten that?...

Interesting start to the round of the Obs garden moth-traps with what looks to be a new species for the island on the vanes of the lepi-led trap (...not the easiest spot to pot it from!) - Pale Oak Beauty that we're guessing has strayed over from a French woodland

Pretty quiet in the nets, so this Melodious Warbler was a real treat this morning #birdringing #culverwell @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social

28th May: a quieter afternoon but with a notable addition to the earlier totals in the form of Quail flushed from the edge of the Obs garden; 17 Sanderling the best of a few waders at Ferrybridge.

Fortunately migration at a slightly better level than this Budgie that's just flown past the Obs - Little Stint thru with 32 Sanderling on the sea + 350 Manx, 25 commic tern, 2 Balearics & singles of GNDiver & Bonxie; Turtle Dove still about at the Obs + 2 Spot Fly & Reed W

27th May: Turtle Dove still at the Obs; Quail new at the Bill + 3 CC, 3 Spot Fly, 2 Little Egret & a Reed W; inc in Med Gulls to 40 off the Bill, with 30 Com Scoter, 25 commic terns, 4 Grey Plover & singles of GNDiver, Balearic Shearwater & Black Tern thru on the sea; 10 Sanderling at Ferrybridge

Spectacular lightning-filled cumulonimbus cloud off to the east of Portland this evening

Turtle Dove again about at the Obs this morning; Black Tern & GNDiver thru on the sea

26th May: despite some epic fieldwork by @dorsetbirdtours.bsky.social the expectation of Bee-eaters galore came to nothing, with the day's migrant tally at the Bill consisting of grounded singles of Turtle Dove, Bcap & CC and 27 Com Scoter, 13 commic terns, 2 GNDivers & a Balearic thru on the sea

Red Valerian at the Obs absolutely hooching with Silver Ys at dusk - have seen this before during periods of intense spring migration and usually find it doesn't result in a huge catch of them in the moth-traps but we'll see in the morning...

Fascinating example of the workings of modern social media, togging and AI 'editing': the same photo of a Turtle Dove that's clearly been run through AI in some way before being posted on two different Facebook groups three days apart by two apparently different people (we've blanked out the names)

Turtle Dove currently settled on the wires beside the Obs - hopefully some Bee-eaters next...

25th May: stiff easterly breeze prompted some tern passage with 108 commics, 5 Blacks and a Little thru off the Bill; singles of Arctic and Great Skuas also thru offshore; passerine arrivals at the Bill limited to yet another 3 CCs + 2 Spot Flys; Ferrybridge waders: 27 RP, 18 Sanderling & 10 Dunlin

More migrant moth news: the second Many-lined in as many nights - this one from last night from John Lucas' garden at Southwell

Chief prize from overnight mothing was a Little Thorn - the first at the Obs and only the second for Portland after we were gripped by @birdbeard.bsky.social finding one last year on East Weare when he wasn't even seriously mothing! 471 Diamond-backs & 114 Small Mottled Willows amongst the Obs catch

Another 3 Black Terns thru off the Bill with a commic flock

2 Black Terns thru east off the Bill with a big flock of commic terns

Not very many migrant birds, a nocmig Quail and an awful lot of migrant moths: www.portlandbirdobs.com/2026/05/24th-may.html

24th May: uneventful on the bird front with a handful of Chiffchaffs and Spot Flys along with singles of Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail making up the passerine migrant tally; waders at Ferrybridge included 30 Dunlin, 22 Ringed Plovers and 14 Sanderling; 600 Manx and a single Balearic off the Bill

Another decent migrant moth: the island's first Ni Moth this year from our garden trap at the Grove last night - a very smart specimen too

Rich reward again on the migrant moth front with the chief prizes at the Obs being a Many-lined - Portland's 10th record of this decent scarcity - and 7 Silver-spotted Veneer E ocellea. Among the commoner things a big arrival of 376 Diamond-backs was of note, with Small Mottled Willow also up to 204

23rd May: a few new grounded migrants incl 5 Spot Flys and singles of Reed W, LWT & Firecrest at the Bill, Spot Fly at Broadcroft and 27 Sanderling & a Wheatear at Ferrybridge; 350 Manx, 33 BhGulls, 20 Med Gulls, 10 commic terns, 4 Eider, 3 GNDivers, a RtDiver & a Pom Skua through off the Bill.

Striped Hawkmoth nectaring on Red Valerian this evening at the Obs

At least 2 Red-veined Darters on the Yeolands Quarry pool this afternoon - both fully coloured-up and no tenerals found so uncertain whether they're more likely fresh immigrants or the result of last year's breeding. Black-tailed Skimmers also the wing there - the first we've seen this year.

Our garden moth-trap at the Grove contained more of the same migrant-wise with the addition of the island's first Vestal of the year. Also an additional Striped Hawk for the tally from John Lucas' garden trap at Southwell.

Yesterday's daytime arrival of Painted Ladies and Hummingbird Hawks proved to be the precursor to a decent overnight migrant moth catch at the Obs that included a Striped Hawkmoth & 139 Small Mottled Willows; 5 Green Oak Tortrix & Delicate of note amongst the back ups.

A Firecrest an unseasonable early catch at the Obs this morning

22nd May: after yesterday's excitements today was far quieter with 2 each of Reed Warbler & CC, and singles of Wheatear & Willow Warbler the only grounded arrivals at the Bill; Sanderlings were down to 21 at Ferrybridge. 42 Common Scoter, 21 commic terns, 2 Balearic Shearwaters & a GNDiver at sea

Very disappointing overnight mothing at the Obs: trap contents getting prettier as the month goes on but almost no evidence of new migration/dispersal